Tip Shop visit inspires exciting community project

Ms Morgan said the piano at the Tip Shop was missing a few keys, but it still worked good enough for her to sit down and play a few tunes.

“Many customers stopped to listen and really enjoyed the entertainment; some even came to compliment me on how nice it was to hear someone play the piano,” she said.

“This got me thinking about how lovely it would be to place a reconditioned piano somewhere in the Mackay community.

“It is well known that people who love music like to stop and listen; some like to join in by singing, or even playing the piano themselves. I propose that this piano would be a piece of public art that can be enjoyed by the entire community.”

The project has won the support of council, which approved Ms Morgan’s $1990 Regional Arts Development Fund (RADF) grant application today.

RADF Committee chair Cr Fran Mann said Ms Morgan had approached the MECC about the project and management had agreed to donate and transport a disused upright piano for this project.

“This project will include a local artist who will help with designing and painting the piano, a

piano tuner and a fabricator to create a frame to transport the piano to various locations,” Cr Mann said.

“Once painted, the piano will become a community asset and the MECC will be the

custodians and responsible for transporting it to different locations around the region.”

Ms Morgan’s was one of 17 RADF applications to be approved today for a total amount of $86,248.

Also receiving a grant for a community activation project was a CQ Rescue 25 Years mural.

Cr Mann said the mural, to adorn the northern external wall of 29 Wood Street between Hogs Breath and Jerimiah Bullfrogs, had been awarded $4125. She said CQ Rescue had been looking after our community from above for 25 years and would reach 10,000 missions in 2021.

“CQ Rescue would like to commemorate this event in the City Centre for those who have supported them during that time,” she said. “They have engaged Jodie Connolly, who was the project manager for the Mackay Laneway Project, to create a temporary mural with augmented reality elements.

“Council is supportive of projects that provide further activation of the City Centre and look forward to seeing this mural come to fruition.”

Minister for the Arts Leeanne Enoch said the long-standing RADF program would help to boost Queensland’s plan for economic recovery, supporting artists and arts workers with employment opportunities through $4.2 million in funding for regional cultural projects.

“The Palaszczuk Government is investing $2.08 million in RADF for 2020-21 and an additional $2.13 million will be contributed by 59 councils across Queensland,” Minister Enoch said.

“Each year RADF showcases the extraordinary innovation of the arts and cultural sector in regional communities, delivers rich arts experiences and provides important professional opportunities for artists and arts workers.”

The following projects also received funding as part of this round:

Green Arts Category

• Margaret Burgess (Artist Collective Caneland) - $10,000 for Plastic Boutique 3
• Felicity Chapman - $7730 for traditional Aboriginal weaving immersion workshops

Community Resilience Category

• Bloomsbury and Midge Point Art and Craft Group - $5478 for a series of three creative workshops to celebrate community resilience
• Scotia Monkivitch – $10,000 for Disaster Ready Regions, a training initiative to build local capacity for developing creative recovery and future resilience

Young People Category

• Tiffany Vella - $2850 for music development training
• Cody Delahunty - $3500 to record up to seven original compositions for a future album titled REAL
• Natalia & Sophie Valmadre - $5000 to for a series of art classes to support the social and educational development of a young non-neurotypical artist

General Category

• Fiona Flohr - $5950 for concept development for a series workshops based on art, creativity, health and wellbeing throughout Queensland
• Grace McDonald (Azure Glass) – $5000 for professional development in the field of enamel painting on glass
• Uptile Mkoka (Weathered) - $7000 for the production and release of a debut album followed by a regional tour
• Celese Heward - $8675 for the creation of a sizzle film for the documentary "Never Enough: Why Our Kids Are Obsessed with Social Media"
• Maree Franettovich - $3500 for Shoes are the Diary of My Life - a community exposé
• Jennifer Perry – $1760 for “Who do you think she is?”, a program for female participants to explore women's history
• Sam Raciti (Mudth-NIyleta Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Corporation) - $7500 to revive, preserve, maintain, record and perform traditional and ceremonial dancing customs before they are lost due to ageing elders
• Matthew Oliver (Systematic Machine) - $4000 for an alternative/punk music project focused on helping to revitalise the local original live music scene

The Regional Arts Development Fund is a partnership between the Queensland Government and Mackay Regional Council to support local arts and culture in regional Queensland.